Former teen phenom Mirjana Lucic on comeback trail

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Fans were treated to a great qualifying match Monday morning at the Wiregrass Tennis Center’s Stadium Court.

For more than two hours, Mashona Washington and Mirjana Lucic traded lasers as they fought gamely just to make it into the main draw of the tournament, which officially begins today.

Lucic, playing despite a tweaky abductor muscle near her left hip, took the first two games of the third set.

Washington, 31, answered with a four-game run and appeared to take control of the match.

Lucic, 27, dug deep and rattled off four consecutive games to complete a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory.

She plays today against Katie Ruckert for one of the four qualifying spots in the main draw.

“It was really tough,” the tall (5-foot-11) blonde from Croatia said after the match.

“The strained muscle, she was playing really well and I was almost out. I fought really hard. I’m proud of myself. It was a tough match to win.”

Nice story, right? Only there is a familiarity with that name. And her face. That familiarity prompted a Google search. Wow.

More than a decade ago, she was one of the hottest up-and-coming players in the sport. She was the third player to win two junior Grand Slams by the age of 14 when she won the 1996 Junior U.S. Open and the 1997 Junior Australian Open.

She won the first WTA Tour event she ever played, at Bol, Croatia, in 1997.

At 15 years, 1 month and 25 days, she was the fifth-youngest player ever to win a title. Only Tracy Austin, Kathy Rinaldi, Andrea Jaeger and Jennifer Capriati were younger champions. 

In her second WTA event, she lost in the finals at Strasbourg. She defended her title the next year at Bol. She was a 1998 semifinalist at the Italian Open and a 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist. She won the Australian Open doubles title in 1998 with Martina Hingis.

She was ranked No. 32 in the world on May 11, 1998. She was 16.

And then ... it was gone. Yes, there were injuries. She suffered a shoulder injury early in 2000 and a knee injury after that.

But those paled next to the mental challenges in her life — on and off the court.

Even at the height of her singles success, she couldn’t enjoy it. She accused her father and coach, Marinko Lucic, of physical and emotional abuse. Her mother, Andelka, moved Mirjana and her four siblings to Florida.

After the injuries, success was elusive. She played sporadically, then not at all.

“I just had some personal things,” she said cautiously. “I just wasn’t playing.”

She made two appearances in Dothan in 2004 and 2005, but those were her only events.

She didn’t play at all in 2006 and appeared in just three events in 2007. Ultimately, something rekindled her love for the game. She decided to come back in 2008.

“It took me the whole last year to get back and start putting four or five wins together,” she said. “I’m able to do that now.”

Her work is just starting. Her singles ranking had fallen to No. 423 at the end of last year.

But she is excited again, particularly after passing a tough test on Monday. She started dialing the cell phone as soon as she left the court.

“My mom,” she explained. “My mom and my sisters. And my coach.”

So what prompted the comeback?

“I missed it so much,” she said. “I love the game and I know that I have so many good tournaments in me. I definitely want to do it again. I want to work my way all the way up and do what I’m capable of.”